Investigating the interaction of crystal violet probe molecules on sodium dodecyl sulfate micelles with hyper-Rayleigh scattering

We report the use of the nonlinear optical technique of hyper-Rayleigh scattering to investigate the interaction of the cationic probe molecule crystal violet with micelles of sodium dodecyl sulfate. An absolute value of (847 +/- 80) x 10(-30) esu is measured at the fundamental wavelength of 870 nm for the molecular hyperpolarizability of crystal violet free in pure aqueous solutions. In aqueous solutions of sodium dodecyl sulfate, above and below the critical micelle concentration, the measured hyperpolarizability of crystal violet is weaker than in the solution free of sodium dodecyl sulfate. From the comparison with linear optical photoabsorption spectroscopy data, this difference is attributed to electrostatic interactions between the cationic crystal violet molecules and the negatively charged sodium dodecyl sulfate surfactant molecules present in excess. Polarization resolved hyper-Rayleigh scattering measurements are then performed to show that, below and above the critical micelle concentration, crystal violet molecules also undergo symmetry changes upon interaction with sodium dodecyl sulfate. Above the critical micelle concentration, the minimum fraction of micelles interacting with at least one CV molecule is estimated. For instance, for a crystal violet aqueous concentration of 150 microM, this fraction is larger than 7%.     

Physicochemical and interfacial investigation of lipid/polymer particle assemblies

A model study was investigated to develop colloidal supramolecular assemblies consisting of particles coated with lipid layers. The interactions between monodisperse sulfate-charged poly(styrene) submicrometer particles and zwitterionic/cationic lipid vesicles composed of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and 1,2-dipalmitoyl-3-trimethylammonium propane were considered. The influence of relevant experimental parameters on the final associations was examined by quasi-elastic light scattering to point out some new phenomena occurring in these colloidal systems. The major role of electrostatic interactions as driving forces to control the organization between cationic lipids and oppositely charged poly(styrene) particles was clearly evident, whereas this influence was less pronounced when considering the zwitterionic lipids. The characterization of these original complex assemblies was completed by a thorough study of the surface modification. The combination of zeta potential measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses, and microscopy observations proved that the envisioned model can really correspond to polymer particles surrounded by lipids.     

Studies on the refolding of the reduced-denatured insulin with size exclusion chromatography

The refolding of the reduced-denatured insulin from bovine pancreas was investigated with the size exclusion chromatography (SEC). It was shown that the reduced-denatured insulin originally denatured with 7.0 mol L^?1 guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCI) or 8.0 mol L^?1 urea could not be refolded with a non-oxidized mobile phase. Although the oxidized and reduced glutathione (GSSG and GSH) were employed in the oxidized mobile phase, the reduced-denatured insulin still could not be renatured. However, in the presence of 2.0 mol L^t-1 urea in the oxidized mobile phase employed, the reduced-denatured insulin can be refolded with SEC, and the aggregation of denatured insulin can be diminished by urea. In addition, the disulfide exchange of reduced-denatured insulin also can be accelerated with GSSG/GSH in the oxidized mobile phase. The three disulfide bridges of insulin were formed correctly and the reduced-unfolded insulin can be renatured completely. The results were further tested with reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RPLC) and hydrophobic interaction chromatography (HIC).     

Study on the thermal decomposition kinetics of<Emphasis Type="Italic">cis/trans-</Emphasis>[Cu(gly)<Subscript>2</Subscript>] • H<Subscript>2</Subscript>O

The thermal decomposition reactions of the complexescis/trans-[Cu(gly)₂] ? H₂O were studied by TG-DSC methods. The results showed that they have similar decomposition process, which occur in two steps. The first step is the loss of water and the second step is the decomposition of anhydrous complexes. But forcis-[Cu(gly)₂]?H₂O, the temperature of losing water is higher than that oftrans-isomer. Their reaction mechanisms of the two-step decomposition were also proposed.     

Thermokinetics on the reaction of formation of Dy[(C<Subscript>5</Subscript>H<Subscript>8</Subscript>NS<Subscript>2</Subscript>)<Subscript>3</Subscript>(C<Subscript>12</Subscript>H<Subscript>8</Subscript>N<Subscript>2</Subscript>)]

The enthalpy change of formation of the reaction of hydrous dysprosium chloride with ammonium pyrrolidinedithiocarbamate (APDC) and 1,10-phenanthroline (o-phen?H₂O) in absolute ethanol at 298.15 K has been determined as (-16.12 ± 0.05) kJ?mol^-1 by a microcalormeter. Thermodynamic parameters (the activation enthalpy, the activation entropy and the activation free energy), rate constant and kinetics parameters (the apparent activation energy, the pre-exponential constant and the reaction order) of the reaction have also been calculated. The enthalpy change of the solid-phase reaction at 298.15 K has been obtained as (53.59 ± 0.29) kJ?mol^t-1 by a thermochemistry cycle. The values of the enthalpy change of formation both in liquid-phase and solid-phase reaction indicated that the complex could only be synthesized in liquid-phase reaction.     

Laser-based ion mobility spectrometer for the direct analysis of aromatic compounds in liquids

A laser-based ionization source for the direct analysis of liquid samples in ion mobility (IM) spectrometry is presented and characterized. Ionization of aromatic substances in liquids is achieved, analogous to atmospheric pressure laser ionization (APLI) in mass spectrometry, by vaporizing the liquid and subsequently ionizing the aromatic substances by resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI). The effects of parameters, such as composition and flow rate of the solvent as well as laser wavelength and pulse energy, are systematically investigated. The characterization of the IM spectrometer is carried out by means of selected substances from diverse fields of applications, e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), pesticides, wood preservatives and drug compounds. Limits of detection (LOD) down to 10 fmol and linear ranges up to three orders of magnitude are established. In addition to direct laser ionization, indirect laser ionization via dopants (toluene) for substances with low ionization efficiencies is investigated. Ionization occurs as a result of proton transfer from toluene radical cations to substances of sufficiently high proton affinities. As a result of indirect laser ionization, LOD could be decreased by up to two orders of magnitude. Ionization products are investigated by means of a combination of IM and mass spectrometer. Depending on the substance investigated primary ions (radical cations) and secondary ions (protonated molecules) resulting from ion molecule reactions are formed.     

Screening Dyrk1A inhibitors by MALDI-QqQ mass spectrometry: systematic comparison to established radiometric,luminescence, and LC–UV–MS assays

Enzyme-catalyzed reactions play key roles in disease pathology, thus making them relevant subjects of therapeutic inhibitor screening experiments. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) assays have been demonstrated to be able to replace established screening approaches. They offer increased sample throughput, but care must be taken to avoid instrumental bias from differences in ionization efficiencies. We compared a MALDI-triple-quadrupole (QqQ) method for the Dyrk1A peptide substrate woodtide to LC–MS, liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection (LC–UV), luminescence, and radiometric assays. MALDI measurements were performed on a MALDI-QqQ instrument in the multiple-reaction monitoring mode. Different MALDI conditions were investigated to address whether matrix type, sample support, and MRM- or SIM-based detection conditions can be used to accommodate the molar responses of substrate peptide and its phosphorylated form. UV detection served as a reference method. The impact of MALDI matrix on IC₅₀ values was small, even considering that matrix preparations were used that are known to alleviate response differences. IC₅₀ values determined by MALDI were ca. 2-fold lower than those determined by LC–UV. Although MALDI generated lower ion yields for the phosphorylated peptide than for the peptide substrate, we found that a correction of compound potencies was readily possible using correction factors based on unbiased LC–UV results. A thorough method development delivered a robust assay with excellent performance (Z′ > 0.91) that was close to that seen for LC–UV.

Ag Nanoparticle/Nanofibrillated Cellulose Composite as an Effective and Green Catalyst for Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol

In this work, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) prepared through in situ green and facile synthesis by using nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) hydrogel as support, stabilizer and reducing agent by two different methods. Their catalytic abilities were examined for conversion of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP). The structure of as-synthesized composites with different AgNO₃ concentrations were characterized by ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy; energy dispersive spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. Results show that all nanocomposites demonstrated excellent catalytic activity. Among them, Ag@NFC-2 sample, with spherical and well-dispersed Ag NPs along the nanofiber, produced by the second method having 0.25 M AgNO₃ concentration presented outstanding catalytic efficiency.     

Partition distance in graphs

If G is a graph and \(\mathcal{P}\) is a partition of V(G), then the partition distance of G is the sum of the distance between all pairs of vertices that lie in the same part of \(\mathcal{P}\). This concept generalizes several metric concepts and is dual to the concept of the colored distance due to Dankelmann, Goddard, and Slater. It is proved that the partition distance of a graph can be obtained from the Wiener index of weighted quotient graphs induced by the transitive closure of the Djokovi?–Winkler relation as well as by any partition coarser than it. It is demonstrated that earlier results follow from the obtained theorems. Applying the main results, upper bounds on the partition distance of trees with prescribed order and radius are proved and corresponding extremal trees characterized.     

A new multistep finite difference pair for the Schrödinger equation and related problems

In this paper and for the first time in the literature, we introduce a new three-stages symmetric six-step finite difference pair with optimal phase and stability properties. The basic characteristics of the new finite difference pair are:

1. 1.
   Is a symmetric hybrid six-step method,
    
2. 2.
   Is of three stages
    
3. 3.
   Is of twelfth algebraic order,
    
4. 4.
   Has vanished the phase-lag,
    
5. 5.
   Has vanished the derivatives of the phase-lag up to order four.
    

For this new finite difference pair we present a detailed analysis which consists of the following:

1. 1.
   The development of the new three-stages symmetric six-step finite difference pair
    
2. 2.
   The presentation of the local truncation error of the new finite difference pair
    
3. 3.
   A comparative error analysis of the new finite difference pair with other finite difference pairs of the same family: the the classical finite difference pair of the family (i.e. the finite difference pair with constant coefficients), the recently developed finite difference pairs of the same family with vanished phase-lag and its first derivative, the recently developed scheme of the same family with vanished phase-lag and its first and second derivatives and finally with the recently developed finite difference algorithm of the same family with vanished phase-lag and its first, second and third derivatives .
    
4. 4.
   A stability and an interval of periodicity analysis and
    
5. 5.
   Finally, the evaluation of the accuracy and computational efficiency of the new three-stages symmetric six-step finite difference pair for the solution of the Schrödinger equation.
    

The theoretical and numerical analysis of the produced new three-stages symmetric six-step finite difference pair, which are presented in this paper, show the effectiveness of the new scheme compared with other known or recently developed algorithms of the literature.